Hacker News Reader

Comment by nuc1e0n | Hacker News Reader

Then I think it comes down to what balance is best for the available resources. I'd rather drink a can of diet coke with aspartame in it than tap water with chlorine in it or bottled water with microplastics in it. Have there been studies comparing the effects of that on the gut biome or what the relative purity in non water ppm is?

A lot of people in the third world trust the cola cola company more than the local water supply to not poison them.

Plus, I like the taste of diet coke more than just water.

Cans are easier to recycle than plastic bottles as well.

View on HN

> A lot of people in the third world trust the cola cola company more than the local water supply to not poison them.

What a rotten situation to be in. Last time I was in India, there was a story on the local news about how the Coca Cola bottling plant managed to contaminate the product with motor oil somehow.

That's bad. Problems can happen without proper safety checks in place. Assuming no contamination otherwise it'd still be better than drinking water from the Ganges though right?

Drinking water from the Ganges is probably not worse than having sugary drinks as your primary source of water. You develop immunity to all the germs at least, and a lot of the industrial pollutants cause developmental issues so if you're an adult male it requires a far higher level to see ill effects. It's a moot point, since bottled water is an option anyways (and cheaper than soda).

The streams running through Bangalore were black with all the stuff dumped into them. Although - I hear the whole city has changed massively since last I visited (almost 10 years back now). I would love to learn that things are better.

Lol. Do you think soda is made from pristine mountain spring water? (Hint: it's not)

No, but it has been distilled. The energy needed for that has an associated cost. I wonder what of the waste liquid was in the source to begin with? If you remove pure water from water with impurities you'll be left with concentrated impurities.

Soda isn't made from distilled water.

> A lot of people in the third world trust the cola cola company more than the local water supply to not poison them.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/03/21/the-horrific-scam-th...

Poor people don't have a choice or better knowledge.

How can these individuals feasibly react in a rational way knowing such things, with their local regulations being poor? Were the water sources reliable before these corporations moved in?

> How can these individuals feasibly react in a rational way knowing such things, with their local regulations being poor? Were the water sources reliable before these corporations moved in?

Generally no; biological contamination came along with population growth and a lack of regulations, now you have biological contamination plus potentially industrial contamination (depending on where you are).

aluminum soda cans are lined with plastic so i don’t think you can get away from microplastics with coke. sorry

True. At least it's only a thin layer. Why are you sorry?

Why would it matter how thick it is? Isn’t it the surface area that the contents are in contact with, not the depth of the wall?

More plastic to potentially leech out into the drink? I don't know. I'm not a chemist. But if only a thin layer is needed it probably doesn't ablate much.

Also, less plastic used means less plastic that has to be disposed of somehow.

The amount of microplastic you get isn't really limited by the overall amount of plastic. But rather, it is limited by how fast they can break off the main plastic layer. The more surface area that's in contact with the drink, the more can leach. The leached amount is minuscule compared to the total amount, but it may have health impacts regardless.

Aluminum Coca-Cola cans are lined with BPA plastic on the inside. Although Coca-Cola and other companies using it with food say it's safe, independent studies suggest many unfavorable health effects of consuming BPA. For example, increased risk of hypertension, diabetes and cancer.

https://www.coca-cola.ca/faqs/coca-cola-faqs-health/do-coca-...

Hmm. That's worth conducting more independant investigations over. If it is a problem hopefully better alternatives can be found. Contaminating the drink with metal traces is not great either. Maybe some kind of wax lining instead perhaps?

It could be a solution. Lipids should be pretty stable in acids. It would be interesting to see a comment from someone interested in chemistry.

> A lot of people in the third world trust the cola cola company more than the local water supply to not poison them.

Those that can afford to buy a drink can just buy the bottled water that Coca-Cola (and Pepsi) sell under various brands throughout the "third world".

> I'd rather drink a can of diet coke with aspartame in it than tap water with chlorine in it or bottled water with microplastics in it.

Chlorine is easily removed, and you can be certain that there are microplastics in your Diet Coke.

The tap water with chlorine should lose most of it when boiled, e.g. for making tea or coffee or just for drinking it warm.

Does anyone actually drink plain warm water?

I do.

Many years ago I have stopped drinking milk at breakfast, and for some years I have replaced it with various herbal teas.

Then I have realized that the teas did not provide anything that I cannot get better from other sources, so I have stopped adding the teas to the water, drinking just the plain warm water and compensating by increasing the amount of fresh or defrozen fruits that I eat at breakfast.

Quite popular in China.

Coke and other soft drinks and bottled water have a similar supply chain for water. Chlorine is a non-issue.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com